N2-(1-carboxyethyl)-2'Deoxyguanosine (CEdG) a Potential Biomarker for Diabetes

"Glucose and its adducts, such as HbA1c, decompose non-enzymatically to yield α-oxo-aldehydes are up to 20,000 x more reactive than the parent molecule. Amounts of an α-oxo-aldehyde, methylglyoxal (MG), are elevated up to 6-fold in patients with Type 1 dm. Quantitation of MG, but MG does form stable, irreversible adducts termed advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) that can be measured. MG also reacts with DNA to yield primarily one stable DNA-AGE, CEdG, and suggests that measuring CEdG might allow for a direct method for assessing glycemic status and α-oxo-aldehyde burden.~Investigators have shown that CEdG levels are significantly elevated in urine and tissue of Type 1 \& 2 dm animal models. DNA-AGE may correlate with the development of diabetes complications and identify patients at higher risk. Therefore, the investigators hypothesize that CEdG, a DNA-AGE, can be used as a marker of diabetes control and complications."